merlin

The game was notable only for the fall-off in Swansea's forward movement....this has dropped off noticeably since Laudrup was manager when they were always likely to catch teams on the break. In fact, they took so long to get moving forward when they gained possession(too many players were passing to a team-mate who was either marked or in their own half of the field)that it was like watching NUFC..obviously, Monk is from the Pardew school of management and it will be interesting to see how they do from now on in...they have already now gone 5 games without a win. As for NUFC, we would never have got anything from this game if a) Krul hadn't produced 2 great saves from Bony and Cisse had not suddenly decided to do what he is best at, i.e. instinctive striking rather than thinking about it. The net result is that Pardew survives once again and even a draw against Leicester will remove any pressure from him by Ashley until at least December. It is as clear as the nose on Shelvey's face that Ashley will do everything to avoid sacking Pardew, either from bloody-mindedness in wanting to spite the fans and 'prove' them wrong, or just to avoid a pay-out until he himself decides to leave the club...maybe even a combination of both. There is no doubt in my mind(or many others, come to that) that these players would show an improvement under a better manager but it will be a long time before that theory is put to the test. Only boycotting is a weapon and I suspect that many decent former fans have already opted for that...we will lose a generation of young supporters before Ashley goes.

I was aware of this at the time - Ashley went to a casino in Dubai instead of keeping the appointment with the Emiratis...they bought Man C instead....... No surprise that he has doubled his stake in Rangers - all he needs is them to be back in the SPL and it will all be going to his plan...

Not throwing the towel in yet as I think either Ashley or Pardew will crack eventually but there will come a time if this continues when people will get so p*ssed off they will jack it in and do something more enjoyable on matchdays. This - if we keep losing and Pardew remains, watch the attendances start to fall....

Yes, very close to the mark I think but he would rather we just scraped an avoidance because it wouldn't look good to Rangers fans if he left after relegating us through bad decisions. I would put the chances closer to an 8 at this time, but if we are bottom at Christmas and Pardew still hanging on, it will rise to a 10.

With an owner like Ashley in charge, it is pointless speculating over who would get the job IF Pardew is sacked. The only likelihood is that the odds are on someone from London as that is the circle in which Ashley moves, so try concocting a pool of names from there - Hoddle and Curbishley would be favourites. However, Ashley likes proven stool pigeons so an attempt to curry favour with 'those fick Jawdies' by appointing Beardsley cannot be ruled out - unfortunately.....

Totally agree Brummie, but this is not just a football phenomena - the media are totally removed from the average person in just about every aspect of modern life and especially so both in football and politics. Far too many idiots working in the media who have NEVER had a proper job apart from scribbling nonsense and its the same with politicians. That's why everything is the way it is - the politicians/sportsmen are in a cosy cartel with the media and the rest of us are just the unwashed plebs as far as they are concerned. At NUFC, Pardew seems to have a cosy relationship with much of the media and the club have SKY in their pockets. Its not going to end well.....

Pretty much I reckon. Pardew's days are numbered but Ashley will hang on until the last moment to sack him, but sack him he will. He just doesn't like to be second guessed by the media so now he's figuring out when he can do it and still look like he's in complete control. This probably sums the situation up - only Ashley's pig-headedness and determination to keep wrong-footing everyone who is either in the media or a fan is keeping Pardew at SJP. He is playing a dangerous game because if results keep going the wrong way, attendances ARE going to start dropping off and relegation will threaten if the status quo exists by late November. If ever a man illustrated he is unfit to run a football club, Ashley has succeeded admirably at NUFC.

NO WAY do I want this guy in charge of NUFC....none at all. I want a decent MANAGER, not a two-faced stool pigeon and even some of the names being bandied about as dire(like Venables)are better management potential than Beardsley. He was a great player and that's ALL he is.

Yeah, way to many random players coming out. We've not heard from Nobby for ages or bloody Hamman for donkeys years and the suddenly Hamman who really hasn't got any interest in our club comes out with comments. yeah right. Hamman was the one who left the club because, in his words, 'the Board was average, so the club was average'....maybe Germans have a different idea about averages - perhaps he thinks Ashley is better than average and Pardew is a better-than-the-average manager.... Then again, maybe he's just a hypocrite. The club is worse than average now even if it WAS average when Hamman was here.

I hold my hand up - I live in Oz so it must be me....yep, I have been beavering away with the assistance of the Australian security organization(ASIO)to infiltrate Pardew's brain and cause it to malfunction to such a degree that its affecting his normally brilliant tactics and handling of players.....that must be why NUFC keep losing. Funny thing is - I wasn't doing it when he was at WHU, Charlton and Southampton - must have a word with my mates at ASIO, maybe there is someone else who is involved because he seemed to malfunction just as badly there... Well done, Steve Brown - you sussed us all out...best try yet..!!

Best wasn't the greatest forward you've ever seen but we seemed to do OK when he was in the side - he was a good foil for Ba and he could hold up the ball better than both Ba and Cisse. Scored some important goals and we have never had a co-ordinated forward line since he left. A great pity for the lad that he got injured at Blackburn.

Excellent post, sums it all up.

No they're not, they just think differently to you. Are you sure they think at all..??

He's a con man. And a pretty good one by the looks of it. No, he isn't - he just has a thick audience who are quite willing to accept his bull--it as gospel. Sad day when W Ham, Charlton and Southampton fans know more about football than NUFC fans, once the most knowledgeable in the game...or is the school system better down there now..?

You think Ashley will let him relegate us. If he's planning to bail out in less than 2 years - certainly...he would probably encourage it.

He is an average player for a less-than-average manager, playing for an average club. Hamman said of us, when he left us to join Liverpool, that 'The board was average, so the club is average'. He was right then and goodness knows what he would think now....but then, we would never have bought him now...

MOTD commentators have been far better than most others tbh. Tonight was very weak though, saying he deserves time. Well he's gonna get it. And sadly our support is fully complicit with it. He will relegate us, that's how bad he is. Hull f***ing City, at home, at sodding home, and you would think we had humped Bayern f***ing Munich 10 nil, away from home, going by the joy and celebrations of our mongfans (and a sizeable amount iof them as well). We are truly a s*** heap of club at the moment. From the very top to the wonga wearing morons at the bottom. I noticed how many were wearing tops with Wonga on them...people in the NE have accepted their lot as second-class football club supporters and in fact, as a second-class area of the country. Plenty of them are quite happy to wallow in the 'down-trodden Geordies' theme as it justifies acceptance of the status quo and that is why they object to others who don't share their mediocrity protesting ; to them it looks like the protesters are 'getting above their station' and although Pardew is by any standards, a crap manager, he suits them because he continues the theme, both by his remarks and results. All this is meat and drink for someone like Ashley and as both parties suit each other, the club is going to go down and down. Relegation would be a deserved fate for those running the club and for those who accept the way it is run - only the protesters have any sympathy from me at all. The club will NEVER be what it was in the 90s again.

Both are quite possibly true - esp No 1..

You have the answer in your own hands - or rather, Bank account...DON'T buy STs or anything from the club. If others want to waste their money lining Ashley's pocket let them. You'll have the last laugh in the end..

Don't feed the troll - this is clearly an Ashley plant or employee....even people who don't like protest at the game want Pardew out and no NUFC fan in their right mind would associate the club with a Conference outfit - even though it is run like one..

Heart bleeds for you, I will be 41 and have to explain to mine just how bad we are and still tell them they can't support anyone else. Daddy suffers, you suffer - simple. You guys are just beginners - I am now 66 and have seen us win ONE trophy in the flesh... I was too young to be at Wembley in the 50s. In 69 we had a team and manager than genuinely wanted to do it for the fans, even if the team weren't the most highly skilled we have ever had ; today we have a useless and self-deluding idiot in charge of a group of players, most of whom probably never heard of Newcastle until they were at least 10 years of age and probably older...these players have little respect for the clown in charge(make that BOTH of them)and will soon be looking at ways to make their exits unless things start improving soon...beginning with a new manager. We are as far from winning another trophy right now as we are from 1969 in time terms....

Seconded. ..and thirded, BG - these guys appear to be doing a great job and this sort of thing will be just what Ashley DOESN'T want. He wants everything to die down after a few days so he can go back to doing the only thing he cares about which is making money via S----s D----t, preferably using NUFC as a tool to do so. The spotlight starting to focus on the circus that is NUFC under his control is going to show up all his failings big time and that's the last thing he wants. The MSM from London are quite happy to let things die down again, especially SKY and Murdoch's rags for obvious reasons so these type of un-ignorable protests are going to keep the pot boiling. As for the theory that people want to support the team so we don't get 'cut adrift' at the foot of the table, well, that is going to happen anyway under Pardew.

Sad news for Jonas - however, a friend of mine developed this when he was 35 and had a testicle removed. recovery was complete and he is still going strong at 66, so the portents for Jonas are good because it is one of the most treatable cancers if caught early. Wish him all the best, a wholehearted player who tried his best for the club, unlike some...

The BBC have NEVER been fond of NUFC and the local station were constantly at odds with SJH & Co even in KKs time. The BBC are filled with scousers, always have been, and they never miss an opportunity to do us down. Having said that, I am sure they are probably correct in that Ashley will move heaven and earth to avoid sacking Pardew unless we are in real danger of going down. That won't be the case until at least another month or two has passed and provided the team beat Hull - or even get a point - Pardew is unlikely to be fired until November as long as we don't suffer a succession of further heavy defeats. People shouldn't underestimate Ashley's sheer bloody-mindedness and determination to stick it to the fans as well as the fact that he wants to avoid a big pay out to Pardew and the rest of his staff who will undoubtedly do the journey if Pardew's successor comes from outside the club...they are ALL on 8 Year deals. He couldn't give a monkeys if Pardew gets stick on Saturday and I really hope he does but unless Hull score early and are in the lead by HT, any sign of a goal from us will have all the myopic idiots back on Pardew's side again. If the fans keep hammering the manager, we are in for a very poisonous period in the club's history - and that is saying something....in previous regimes, even under McKeag & Co, fans turning on a manager after a string of bad results would almost inevitably result in his being sacked but we are now dealing with someone wealthy enough not to care what the fans think as long as he gets the TV money and a person who has a malevolent mindset..witness his past stitching up of Whelan and others after perceived slights and he has had plenty of those from our fans...deservedly, but not in his mind. Only a real threat of relegation - or possibly a 4 or 5 goal clattering from Hull at the w/e - is going to get him to take action he blatantly wants to avoid because he knows he will have the devil of a job getting another Yes-man like Pardew. Its all going to get very interesting and the loser will be the club....and the fans - again.

Ashley is a chancer - he has proved this time and again both at NUFC and in his business dealings. Contrary to popular belief, he hasn't always come up smelling of roses in the latter either as he lost a huge amount of money on a stock bet in the GFC, money which could have built a good NUFC team. He obviously enjoys winding the fans up because he knows they will never forgive him for engineering KKs departure 6 years ago and he will actively pursue any course of action if he thinks it will annoy them, especially when it benefits him financially as well and this is where we come to the point of decision about Pardew. Any owner who wanted the best for his club would have fired Pardew last May if not before - it has been as obvious as the nose on your face that Pardew is way out of his depth at NUFC and is a failure as a manager as well as being a liability to the club's reputation. Motivated firstly by his determination to avoid paying up Pardew's contract(despite it being the most stupid award imaginable)and secondly by a pig-headed determination to stick out against and annoy the fans, Ashley looks like sticking with the status quo at least until the Hull game in the hope that we snatch a point or win when he can again allow Pardew to remain. The chancer in Ashley will try to stretch this out until at least Christmas and only if we remain in the bottom 3 is Pardew likely to be sacked as Ashley fears relegation, but if the current form continues we will be beyond saving by the time he is finally forced, kicking and screaming, to pull the trigger. If we get anything on Saturday, this saga is going to run and run......